A Time for Change?

…a time to slow down and a time for courage, to make time for the things that matter,

the time to look at your options, the time to solve that problem,

the time to look at your life, the time to think.

And that’s one of the things that coaching does.

Coaching gives you the time you need.

It gives you a safe place to think and plan before, and alongside what you ‘do’.A time when you can get off the treadmill, and get perspective on your life. A time to explore, a time to find out about yourself, a time to look at your purpose in life.

Giving yourself the time to think about what you do now, has an effect on your present and your future, and that of others around you.

Everything these days seems to be getting faster and faster and our expectation is the same: fast food, fast service, fast cars, fast correspondence, fast workplace, fast relationships, fast activities, fast entertainment, fast reading or little reading if any, and of course we are all looking for the fast fix.

There is too much busyness and we seem to be creating a world full of ‘speed-aholics’, rushing around like the ‘roadrunner’ escaping from one ‘coyote only to get to the next one.

We also share the world with the ‘now generation’ – those who want instant gratification. A generation that is used to getting its own way, with little patience, used to immediacy (primarily through technology), but who are easily stressed out, who aren’t used to dealing with failure, and who when life just doesn’t turn out immediately the way they want, are intolerant of it. They don’t see a way through and give up easily. This particular generation is increasingly leading the way in which the world works, but which equally causes life and the workplace to change more quickly and become more and more stressful because of the higher demands placed on us, for speedier results and less tolerance for mistakes.

But we weren’t created to zoom through life, without a thought for what we do and why we do it.Our brains weren’t created to run at a hundred miles an hour from one thing to the next. That isn’t life. That is slavery. That’s just behaving and reacting with little thought or purpose.

Leaders, in particular, need the time and space to think and plan and create and to have time for vision for the organisations in which they find themselves. They need to slow down in order to think and reflect for best practice, for problem solving, for being more efficient and to foresee problems.

Faster isn’t always smarter.

How you view time, work and life will reflect in how you live, work and spend your time and it will also have an effect on your children and grandchildren and those who look up to you for direction. As a leader, you are the role model for others, whether you like it or not! Most have heard of the term work life balance, but do you really have any idea of what that is?

And what exactly is your perspective of work?

Do you see work as a means to an end?
Do you see it solely as an exchange of your labour for monetary reward to enable you to get the things you need and want, and a way to provide for the future?

Do you enjoy your work? Do you love your work?

Does it have purpose other than the here and now?

What contribution are you making?

What difference are you making?

How is the organisation (wider community) better for you being within it?

Think about how much of your life you spend engaged in ‘work’.
Why are you doing that particular work?
Did you ‘fall into it’? Did you want to be in that particular position all your life? And how does it fit in with your life/affect your life?
Do you intend doing that for the rest of your life?

Do you only see work as being that which you are paid for?
Have you thought about what you will do when you retire from your main job?
What will your ‘work’ be when you retire? What will your purpose be then?
You see, work is not something we do just because we have to. We were created to work. We were created to create, to make, to produce, to design and to serve. We were created with a purpose.

And what about all the work you do in the home? What about the voluntary work you do? Or the church work? Or your ministry or calling? Have you jumped around from job to job, not thinking why? Or have you stayed in the same job year after year? Some of you have happily stayed there. Others just accept your lot, thinking little of it, and yet others remaining and hating every minute, every hour, every day – year after year slogging along doing the same thing.

Work takes up a huge part of our lives.

So it’s important that we are in the right place, doing the right thing. You may even be in the right place, doing the right job, but with the wrong attitude. Have you thought about your attitude and your motivation? How do you relate to your colleagues? How do you manage conflict? What drives you?Lots of motivations are good and right – provision for ourselves and our families. And that may be your purpose – to be a provider.

But what about the content of your work? What about the values of the organisation you work in? Does it fit with your own values? Are your values in conflict with that of your workplace? Is it affecting your health? Do you have the right personality for the job? Are you the right match? Are you undervalued? Could you be better placed somewhere where others would benefit from your strengths and skills?

And what about the wider purpose of your life?

These are the sorts of questions that coaching and mentoring help you with. And it’s not just about success or achievement. It’s about you.
You have a unique set of qualities, strengths, skills, abilities and character. Javelin Success helps you look at your life, as a whole. It’s about the individual, about your quality of life, about how you fit in with your workplace, your family, your community, your world.

Maybe it’s time to take that time for yourself to consider these things, to slow down, or to make that change.

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